Hasta La Gadget!

Spotted outside the auditorium at Qualcomm’s China QRD (Qualcomm Reference Design) Summit earlier today were a handful of — surprise, surprise — QRD-based smartphones from China, several of which featured the Cortex-A5-based quad-core MSM8x25Q announced back in September. The usual suspects were there in the quad-core lot: Yulong had its Coolpad 5890 (EVDO) and Coolpad 7268 (UMTS), along with Hisense’s U958 (UMTS) and Tianyu’s K-Touch U86 (UMTS). These all fall within the so-called “¥1,000 ($160) phone” category and yet they are also gifted with a second SIM slot. But what really got our attention was Beidou’s Little Chilli LA-M1, which also does dual-SIM (UMTS) but packs an OGS gapless IPS display, while the others came with an LCD panel of obviously lesser quality. Read on to learn more about this mysterious phone, as well as checking out our hands-on photos of the other aforementioned quad-core QRD phones.

Here’s a little background: Little Chilli is Beidou’s fairly new brand that attempts to follow Xiaomi’s online retail model, but without supplying a heavily customized version of Android like MIUI. Most of its earlier models didn’t really stand out as they carried almost the same set of components used by other budget phones; but that was until Beidou and ZTE announced their ¥999, Tegra 3-based U950, followed by the Little Chilli Q1 which was officially launched four days ago. The latter went on sale yesterday and the first batch of 20,000 units promptly sold out — not a surprise since it comes with Tegra 3 and a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display for just ¥999 as well.

Giving the Q1’s recent availability, you could say the timing of the LA-M1’s announcement today wasn’t ideal, which is likely why Beidou has yet to mention the price and availability for its newer phone, but we did hear mentions of a sub-¥1,000 on the show floor. That would be pretty decent for the specs we know so far: 4.5-inch 800 x 480 IPS gapless display, MSM8225Q quad-core chip, dual-SIM support, an eight-megapixel main camera (which produced reasonably good photos, from what we could see), a two-megapixel front-facing camera, and Baidu cloud service integration with 15GB of storage for life, plus another 15GB free for one year. No word on battery size nor battery life yet, but our guess is that neither should disappoint.

While it isn’t exactly the most handsome phone on the planet, the M1 that we got to touch actually felt pretty solid, and it ran the native Android 4.1 quite smoothly. So given the choice (and assuming they cost the same), it’s either the M1 with its dual-SIM capability but qHD display, or the Q1 with the 720p display but with just one SIM slot. Regardless, Beidou could be well on its way to become the new Xiaomi (sans the software part), though only time can tell whether it has the reliability and after-sale service to prove it. If not, there’s still plenty of opportunity for others — Qualcomm’s already completed over 170 QRD-based projects, with about 100 more in the pipeline. Watch out, MediaTek!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Hisense’s “Transparent 3D” display technology creates the crazy effect of incorporating real-life objects into a video image. The 40-inch demo unit, in the image above, could be how you window-shop in the future. It’s so cool looking. I only wish there was something better to do with it. More »

Chinese manufacturer HiSense has taken over Microsoft’s old booth at CES, and it’s mainly showing off its latest and greatest televisions. But the company has a dirty little secret that not too many gadget fans know: it sells phones and tablets as well. While these devices may not be on the bleeding edge, HiSense’s new Android smartphone, the U958, actually sports a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Play processor (the MSM8225Q, to be precise). Aside from the inclusion of Android 4.1, the rest of the spec sheet doesn’t impress: a 4.5-inch FWVGA (854×480) display, 5MP rear camera, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, microSD, 1,700mAh battery, dual-SIM support and a thickness of 9.5mm.

It’s pretty clear that the phone is geared primarily toward emerging markets; the specs and overall design seem to indicate that the company’s trying to keep costs down to a minimum. To the seeker of high-performance flagship devices, the U958 will likely get lost in the sea of competing budget-friendly phones at CES; we’re interested to see, however, if we’re witnessing the start of HiSense’s attempt to snag up crucial smartphone market share. Check out a few pics of the phone in action below.

Joseph Volpe contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Hisense gave us a tease of its TV future late last year with reasonably-sized 4K sets. We now know that it’s bringing a lot more to CES — and we do mean a lot. Its 2013 lineup will include the XT900 line, which brings 3D-capable 4K displays to 65-inch, 85-inch and slightly staggering 110-inch sizes. If extreme resolution isn’t top on the list, there’s still the 55- and 65-inch XT780, which port Hisense’s Google TV interface from a set-top box to the set itself. Glasses-free 3D rounds out the previews: while just a concept, the 60-inch GF60XT980 is promising through its combination of face tracking and a 2160p display to avoid the usual 3D eyewear while preserving detail. Unspecified models across the entire mix carry MHL-capable HDMI ports to handle devices like the Roku Streaming Stick. Prices and ship dates will have to wait until closer to release, Hisense says, but many more details (including a snapshot of the XT780) await after the break.

Continue reading Hisense previews 2013 TV lineup that includes a 110-inch 4K set, Google TV and glasses-free 3D

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Hisense

Hisense is a Chinese company you may or may not have heard of. But they’ve jumped in on what seems to be the prevailing trend of CES with six UHD 3D TVs. More »